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The aims and objectives of the Balfour Project

The Balfour Project hopes to achieve a much greater public awareness of Britain’s historic and current responsibilities in the Middle East, and in particular its role there in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Balfour Project accordingly invites the government and people of the United Kingdom

to learn what the Balfour Declaration and Palestine mean for both Arabs and Jews,

to acknowledge that whilst a homeland for the Jewish people has been achieved, the promise to protect the rights of the Palestinian people has not been fulfilled,

and to urge effective action to promote justice, security and peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

Some recent papers

Persecution to relieve persecution

The Balfour Project is most grateful to the Times Literary Supplement for allowing us to reprint this review of The Arab Awakening, by George Antonius, the review by Harry Pirie-Gordon being published on November 26, 1938….

Antonius and Jeffries, one an Arab Palestinian Christian, the other an Irish journalist, examine and expose the lies Britain told and the promises Britain broke, both of which contributed in no small measure to the subsequent, century-long conflict in Palestine. Read More

Palestine 1948: Britain Surrenders to Terror

Balfour speaking to Brandeis in 1919 :“Palestine presents a unique situation, which inevitably excludes numerical self-determination; We are definitely building for a Jewish numerical majority in the future”…

The manner in which the British withdrawal took place was not only unprecedented, it was politically – and morally – quite shameful. Read more

Palestine and Britain: forgotten legacy of World War I that devastated the Middle East

But another anniversary that fell this year – that of the end of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1948, a seminal moment in a conflict that continues to this day – has been largely ignored. It should not be. Britain’s role was pivotal – and, if it is forgotten in the UK, it is remembered in Middle East. Read More

And the best book about the Balfour Declaration is…

Many people trying to get to grips with the Israel/Palestine conflict begin with the First World War and the contradictory promises Britain made at that time. Read More

Letter to The Times

13 September 2018 – The Oslo Accords, 25 years on: time to recognise the state of Palestine alongside Israel

“Sir, It is painful now to recall the hope we had in the Oslo Accords. Twenty-five years on, cynicism and resignation rule. The Israeli occupation since 1967 has become so entrenched that it is hard to see beyond it. There is a better way, …” Read More

Balfour Centenary Declaration

The centenary of the Balfour Declaration is the time to reconcile peace with justice for both Israelis and Palestinians, consistent with the principle Britain claims as her own: equal rights for all under the law. … Read More